Experimental study on flow over sinusoidal and semicircular labyrinth weirs

Abstract

For a given width, a labyrinth weir has a developed crest length, thereby increasing the flow capacity for a given upstream headwater. This paper experimentally studies the flow over labyrinth weirs with semicircular and sinusoidal configurations in a rectangular channel under a wide range of flow discharges. The effects of headwater ratio (H_T/P), length of weir (L/P), arc radius ratio (R/P) and the number of cycles (N) on the discharge coefficient of semicircular and sinusoidal labyrinth weirs are investigated. Experimental results indicated the decreasing trend of C_d for H_T/P>0.35 which is probably related to the progressive development of local submergence. Despite the effects of local submergence, the labyrinth weirs have nearly the same discharge coefficient as broad-crested weirs, and the flow discharge exceeded the linear weirs efficiency by ∼30. Additionally, reliable equations for estimating the discharge coefficient of labyrinth weirs with semicircular and sinusoidal configurations are presented.